Means and method for forming a weft-loop selvage



P 3, 1963 R. w. GUSTAVSON ETAL 3,102,557

MEANS AND METHOD FOR FORMING A WEFT-LOOP SELVAGE Filed Sept. 28, 1961 5 Sheets-Sheet l lildm.

i. h h h INVENTORS ROGER w. GUSTAVSON MELVILLE c. MOSHER (19ml: HM

ATTORNEY 3,102,557 MEANS AND METHOD FOR FORMING A WEFT-LOOP SELVAGE Filed Sept. 28, 1961 Sept. 3, 1963 R. w. GUSTAVSON ETAL 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTORS 49 ROGER W. GUSTAVSON MELVILLE C. MOSHER c iaaft HONJQQY ATTORNEY Sept. 3, 1963 R. w. GUSTAVSON ETAL 3,102,557

MEANS AND METHOD FOR FORMING A WEFT-LOOP SELVAGE Filed Sept. 28. 1961 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 lNVENTORS ROGER W. GUSTAVSON gun/T:

ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,102,557 MEANS AND METHOD FOR FORMING A WEFT-LQQP SELVAGE Roger W. Gustavson, Auburn, and Melville C. Mosher, Hopedale, Mass., assigncrs to Crompton & Knowles Corporation, Worcester, Mass, a corporation of Massachusetts Filed Sept. 28, 1961, Ser. No. 141,482 12 Claims. Il.'139--124) or edge of the fabric, during which a loop forming needle with a rearwardly facing curved hook moves rearwardly and then forwardly of the loom to hook the weft thread in a manner to form a loop and thereafter draws the latter through a previously formed loop to form a weftloop or knitted salvage as is well known in the art. These looms operate at very high speeds and great care and accuracy must be utilized to timely relate the weft and both needles all with respect to each other in order that the loop forming needle is able to pick up the weft to prevent the latter from being retracted out of the shed to cause a mis-pick before the weft-loops are formed. It the loops are too loose or too tight, the quality of the fabric is detnimentally affected and in order to remedy this effect the loom must be repeatedly stopped and started until the proper adjustment of re loop forming needle is made. This manner of adjustment is diflicult and exasperating, and is objectionable since it results'in a loss in production during frequent stoppage of the loom while adjustments are being made. Moreover, attempts have been made to reduce stoppage of the loom by providing the latter with weft placing means in the form of a brush or wire to movethe weft in relation to the loop forming needle to permit the latter to grab the weft. But this provision is objectionable since it necessitates additional mechanism besides that of the loop forming needle mechanism, which additional mechanism must he synchronized also carefully and accurately with the action of the needles to effect weft pick-up by the loop forming needle.

It is therefore an important object of the invention to overcome the objections mentioned above by providing means to easily and accurately adjust the loop forming means to loosen or tighten the loops formed thereby as desired during loom operation.

Another object of the invention is to provide a support for the fabric being woven and means extending along the width of the fabric to engage and to maintain the latter on the support such that the fabric and support therefor can be utilized as a reference point toward and from which the loop-forming means can be automatically adjusted during loom operation to form the desired size of loop.

Another object of the invention is to mount the loopforming means for reciprocation and rotation on rotatable reciprocating means adjustable to be raised and lowered with respect to the reference point.

Another object of the invention is to mount the loopforming means on a ro'ckable lever system operating to reciprocate the needle backwardly and forwardly and also operating to rotate the same during reciprocation thereof to enable the needle on its forward movement to hook the weft.

3,102,557 .Patented Sept. 3, 1963 ICE A further object of the invention is to mount the: needle and its hook so that it moves rearwardly and upwardly along a path extending over the weft and also movable forwardly and downwardly along the same path in timed relation with insertion of the weft through the shed while the weft is moving from a back position to a forward position to enable the needle to grasp the weft when the latter is in its fonward positionf t A further object of the invention is to operatively connect drive means to one of the links to effect reciprocation of the entire lever system as well as partial rotation upwardly and downwardly of one of the levers to effect movement of the needle along the previously-mentioned path.

It is another object of the invention to include a fourbar linkage system in the lever system to support the weft forming needle adjacent the fabric and support there-for. Yet another object of the invention is to provide a four-bar linkage system with a pair of levers, one of which is longer than the other, and pivoted at a point below and rearward of the pivot of said other lever, both levers at the top thereof being connected by a link to carry the loopforming needle.

A further object of the invention is tomove the loop forming means along said path in relation to the weft inserting means in a manner such that the loop forming means will intersect a horizontal plane in which the weft moves to engage the latter whether the needle is of the arcuate type moving in and out of the shed along the same arc, or of the type in which the weft needle moves into and through the shed along one curvilinear path and retracted out of the shed along a different curvilinear path.

It is a further object of the invention to provide an improved method of forming a knitted selvage including the steps of moving a weft through a shed from a rear to a forward position in a manner to provide a bend in the weft outside and adjacent the edge of the fabric, swinging a hook needle adjacent the fabric rearWa-rdly and upwardly albove the weft during emergence thereof from the shed, swinging the needle forwardly and downwardly in the same said path to loop the weft during movement of the latter to its forward position, and thereafter drawing the Weft loop through a previously formed loop to form a weft-loop or knitted selvage.

in order that the invetnion may 'be clearly understood reference is made to the accompanying dnawings which illustrate by way of example two embodiments of the invention and in which: i

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of part of a needle loom having the preferred form of the invention applied thereto,

FIG. 2 is a plan view looking in the direction of arrow 2, FIG. 1,

FIG. 1,

FIG. 6 is a vertical section on line 66, FIG. 2,

FIG, 7 is a view similar to a part of FIG. 1 and showing certain of the parts adjusted to a different position,

FIGS. 8-13 are operational views illustrating the mode of operation of the preferred form of the invention,

FIG. 14 is a diagrammatic view illustrating the path of travel of the weft loop forming means as it relates to the preferred form of the invention,

FIGS. 15-17 show a modified form of the invention.

and

FIG. 18 shows a diagrammatic view of the operation of the loop forming means as it relates to the modified form of the'invention.

In carrying the present invention into effect, and with referencepartic'ularly to FIGS. 1-6, a loom frame generally designated at 1 supports a cross channel 2 to which a bearing stand 3 is aflixed in any approved manner, there being a pair of such bearing stands but only one being shown, namely, stand 3. The loorn frame 1 inincludes a rear portion 4 which supports a drive shaft (not. shown) to which is operatively connected 2. drive chain or belt 5 trained around a driven wheel 6. Wheel 6 is fast on a jack shaft 7 which is suitably supported on rear portion 4 and which carries a crank *8 to which one end of a crank arm 9 is pivoted as at 10. The other end of crank arm 9 is operatively connected as at :11 to a lever system generally indicated by the reference character 12, said lever system including a vertically rockable drive lever 13, a reciprocating vertical lever 14, a reciprocating comparatively'shorter vertical lever 15 and a rotatable reciprocating iconnecting'link 16. The lever 14 is aligned with, behind of, and some what longer than lever 15 and is keyed to a rotatable pivot shaft '17 while lever 15 is freely pivoted on a normally stationary pivot stud 1 8 located forward of and higher than pivot 17. Levers 14 and 15, link 16 and pivots 17 and 1 8 constitute a 4-bar linkage system to reciprocate levers 14 and 15 while at the same time causing rocking of link 16. Pivot shaft 17 is operatively connected to the previously described rockable drive lever 13, and both may be considered as drive means to effect rocking or reciprocation of the pair of levers 14 and 15 as well as link '16.

Cross channel 2 has fixed thereto as at 20 a table and fabric support 21 along the top of which the fabric F travels during loom operation. Fabric support 21 extends rearwardly as at 22 somewhat near the fell 23 and as can be seen in FIGS. 1 and 2, the table or support 21 being slightly wider than the width of the fabric being woven.

Adjacent and above end 2-2, an elongated pressure bar 25 is rotatably supported on a bearing member 26, see

FIGS. 1 and 2, which extends across the width of the fabric, as does bar 25, and thence forwardly as at 27 and is provided with a turn 28 and a tail 29, the latter being yield-ingly held by a clamping bar 30' and screws 31 passing through bar 30 and screwed into support 21.

A spring 33 fast on tail 29 has an end portion 34 to engage part 27 and biased in a direction to resiliently hold bar 25 pressed against the fabric F to prevent lifting thereof from its support 2 1. The fabric and the top 35 of the table constitute a reference point to be further discussed hereinafter. It is to be understood that bar 25 need not be circular as shown and that it may be of any desired shape and need not necessarily rotate to maintain the fabric F on support 21.

Table 21 supports a stub shaft 36 which extends vertically through'the table, and at the lower end of stub shaft 36 a lever 37 is held thereto, see FIG. 2, in any well known manner. Lever 37 carries a weft inserting needle means '38 secured in a bearing 39 on lever 37, the needle being provided with a weft eye 40 through which a weft thread W passes to the fabric from a weftcone, not shown but well known. Lever 37 is actuated by the lay, also not shown, and inserts eye 40- and the weft thereat through warp sheds along an arouate path 41, see FIG. 4, during rearward motion of the lay, and retracts the eye and needle 38 from the sheds during forward movement of the lay along the same arouate path. Needle 3'3 and the actuating mechanism therefor for-1n no part of the present invention except as set forth hereinafter, the needle and actuating mechanism being shown for instance in Patent No. 1,968,755 issued to Fowler July 31, 1934.

Referring to FIG. 1, the rear end 42 of connecting link 16 is mounted on a shouldered cap screw pivot 43 (see FIG. *6) at the upper end of lever 14, and the forward end 44- is on. a shouldered cap screw pivot 45 on the upper end of lever 15 such that link 16 is between the levers and support 21 adjacent thereto as illustrated in FIG. 2. Link :16 supports a reciprocating loopforming needle means 46 at the top thereof and, as can be seen in FIG. 6', needle 46 is clamped to link 16 by a plate 47 held fast to link 16 by a screw 48. Needle 46-fits into a groove 49 in link 16 and a ledge 50' on plate 47 firmly holds needle 46 in groove 49 against relative movement therebetween. As can be clearly seen in FIGS. 7 and 9 14, loop-forming needle 46 at the rear end thereof has a rearwardly facing curved hook 51 cooperating with a latch 52 to grasp and hold the weft and form a weft-loop 53' of the usual type as shown in FIG. 7. Hook 51 and latch 52 are constantly rearward of end 42 ofsupport .21.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 5, a guide bracket 54 is attached to table 21 in any approved manner and is provided respectively with .front and rear bearings 55 and 56 both of which support a rotatable adjusting bolt 57, as can readily be seen in FIG. 5. The right-hand end of bolt 5 7 has a head 58 with a shoulder 59 to bear bearing 56. Shoulder 59 and collar 62 prevent movement of bolt 57 in a direction parallel to its axis but permits rotation of bolt 57 concentric with its axis. The

previously-mentioned link 15 and its normally stationary pivot stud 1 8 are mounted on bolt 57 as shown in FIGS. 1 and 5. Pivot L8 is provided with a lug 64 which extends into and snugly fits a slot 65 in guide bracket 54 to prevent turning of pivot 18. As is shown clearly in FIG. 5, bolt 57 is screw threaded as at 66 between bearings 55 and 56 to'receive a threaded part 67 of pivot 18. Head 58 is provided with a slot 68 and rotation of bolt 57 on its axis will cause pivot 18 to travel along screw threads 66 so that lever 15 and its pivot 18 may be adjusted toward and away, depending upon direction of rotation of bolt 57, from lever 14 and its pivot 17. As illustrated in FIG. 7, lever 15 and its pivot 18 have been moved along bolt 5'7 in a direction away from lever 14 and its pivot 17 relative to the position of lever 15 as shown in FIG. 1. As will be noted in FIGS. 2 and 4, head 58 is in the open so that a tool can be readily inserted in slot 68 to rotate bolt 57 clockwise and anticlockwise to automatically adjust pivot 18 and lever 15 :31; described just above for a reason set forth herein- K ter.

In general, during Will be formed by crossing sheets of warp threads as is usual for the insertion therethrough of weft W by needle 38 moving in and out of the sheds along arcuate path 41 in timed relationship with needle '46 which has a combined rotating and reciprocating motion during insertion of weft by needle 38 and retraction thereof from the shed. As can be seen in FIGS. 9l'3, a shed is indicated by the reference character 69 and upper and lower sheets of warp threads by reference numeral 70 and 71 respectively.

During insertion of the weft through the shed, the weft will be in a back position with respect to the fell 23 and then be moved forwardly toward the fell after reciprocation of levers 14 and 15 rearwardly and rotation of link .16 clockwise about pivot 43 from the position of FIG. 1 to that of FIG. 3. When eye 40 is fully loom operation, successive sheds through the shed as shown in dotted lines, FIG. 4, the weft will have been moved forwardly from its rear position, full lines FIGS. 4 and 14, to a forward position near the fell 2 at which time lever 13 will act to rock levers 14 and 15 forwardly and cause counterclockwise rotation of needle 4-6 and its hook 51 to enable the latter to grab the filling before the needle 38 starts to retract. As needle 38 retracts, the weft W will be looped about book 51 and the latter will continue to move forwardly and downwardly along the same path so that when it was moved rearwardly and upwardly continued forward movement of hooks 51 will bring the weft loop forwardly and pass it through a previously-formed loop, as discussed below, to interlace the loops to form a knitted selvage.

With reference to FIGS. 8-13, FIG. 8 shows the beginning of a loop-forming cycle in which a reed R is in forward beat-up position with the warp threads just about to cross and the needle 46 forwardly in loop retaining position. After the beat-up has been accomplished, the reed will move rearwardly as is usual and the warp threads 74 and 71 will cross and open to form a shed for insertion of the needle 38 and weft W therethrough. FIG. 9 shows partial reciprocation of the needle 46 rearwardly and partial rotation thereof during partial insertion of the weft W (not shown) by the needle 38 (also not shown). FIG. 10 shows the weft inserted through the shed and in a position corresponding to the full lines in FIGS. 4 and 14. The needle 46 at this time has moved upwardly so that hook 51 is above the weft and near bend 72. Continued movement of needle 38 will move the weft W in the direction of a (FIG. 14) from the full line position of FIG. 4 to the dotted line position thereof corresponding to the dotted line position of FIG. 14, at which time needle 46 as illustrated in FIG. 11 will be moving downwardly and forwardly in the same path in which it moves rearwardly and upwardly. In FIG. 12 hook 4s has engaged weft W adjacent bend '72 and subsequent movement of hook 51 forwardly will move the bend to that position shown in FIG. 13, after which the bend, which in effect now is a loop around the needle, is drawn through a previously formed loop shown at 75 in FIG. 13. This then will form a knitted or weft-loop selvage and the operation just described will continue during loom operation to continually form and draw loops through a previously formed loop to form the selvage.

When it is desired to vary the size of the loops in the event the latter are too tight or too loose, bolt 57 may be rotated manually during loom operation in either one of two directions to raise or lower the needle 46 with respect to the fabric and fabric support top 35 which can be considered as a reference point toward and away from which needle 46 may be adjusted to effect loosening or tightening of selvage S as the case may warrant. As can be seen in FIG. 7, bolt 57 has been rotated so that pivot 18 has been moved upwardly and away from pivot 17 to change the relationship of levers 14 and 15 and cause rotation of link 16 to swing needle 46 slightly downwardly away from top 35. This will produce a larger loop as compared to those formed by needle 46 in FIG. 1 wherein the needle has been adjusted to be closer to the fabric and top than that shown in FIG. 7. It will be seen that rotation of bolt 57 will automatically cause an adjustment of needle 4s toward and away from top 35, depending upon which direction the bolt is rotated.

In the modified form of the invention as shown in in all respects to needle 46, will operate in a similar manner as does needle 46 and moves rearwardly and upwardly as shown in FIG. 18 and then forwardly and downwardly along the same path during which time the weft W1 moves in the direction of arrow b such that the hook '81 of needle engages the weft, at which time needle 76 is retracted in a manner to wrap the weft W1 over the needle 80 as can be readily seen in FIG. 17. During retraction of needle 76, the weft forming needle 80 will move downwardly and forwardly to pass the weft thread through a previously formed loop in the same manner as that in the preferred form of the invention. A table 82, similar to table 21, is provided to support the fabric F. The weft needle and mode of operation may be similar to that shown in Turner Patent No. 2,625,959 issued January 20; 1953.

From the foregoing it will be seen that simple means in the form of a lever system has been provided to move the loop-forming needle in timed relationship with the weft inserting needle to form a loop and thereafter pass the latter through a previously formed loop to form a selvage. It will also be seen that simple adjusting means have been provided to vary the size of the loop automatically by adjustable means in relationship to a reference point during loom operation. Further it will be seen that the loop-forming needle not only reciprocates but also has a rotating movement the combined motions of which swing the needle along a path rearwardly and upwardly over the weft and thence forwardly and downwardly along the same path to pick up the weft before the weaving needle is retracted. Moreover, it will be seen that movement of the knitting needle is related to movement of the weft from a rear to a forward position to effect pick-up of the weft before the needle and weft are retracted, thereby preventing a mispick. In the moditied form of the invention it will be seen that simple means are provided to wrap the weft around the knitting needle to insure engagement of the hook of the needle in order to form a loop. Also it will be seen that a method and means has been provided to form loops whether the weft inserting means is of the type that moves in and out of the shed along the same path or the type thatmoves along one curvilinear path through the shed and along a different curvilinear path when being retracted.

Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, what is claimed is:

1. In a loom operating to form sheds for insertion of weft therein to weave a fabric with weft-loops formed along at least one of the selvages of the fabric having a support therefor, means extending along the width of the fabric to engage the latter and maintain it on said support, reciprocating loop-forming means for" engagement with said weft and rotatable during reciprocation, rotatable reciprocating means having said loop-forming means attached thereto adjacent said fabric and said support, a pair of pivoted rocking means mounting said rotatable reciprocating means, drive means operatively connected to one of said rocking means to eflieot reciprocation of said pair of rocking means, and adjustable means operatively connected to the other of said rocking means to change the relationship of said loop-forming means with respect to said fabric and support therefor to vary the size of the loops being formed, said change being capable of being made during loom operation or stoppage thereof.

2. The loom set forth in claim 1 wherein said means extending along the width of the fabric includes an elongated bar on a bearing member biased in a direction to cause engagement of said bar with said fabric to prevent lifting thereof from its support.

3. The loom set forth in claim 1 wherein said loopforming means is provided with a weft engaging hook at its upper end to mount said rotatable reciprocating means.

6. The loom set fonth in claim 5 wherein the higher of the two pivots is a stud normally stationary but adjustable toward and away from said other pivot to raise and lower said rotatable reciprocating means and said loop forming means thereon with respect to said fabric and support therefor.

7. The loorn set forth in claim 1 wherein said drive means includes a crank, a vertically reciprocable lever and a crank arm, said crank arm being between the crank and said lever and operatively connected thereto.

8. The loom set forth in claim 1 wherein said adjustable means includes a guide bracket having a slot therein, a stud for said other of said rocking means and provided with a lug snugly fitting and slidable in said slot, a 'bolt passing through said stud and journaled on said guide bracket for rotation with respect thereto, the stud being automatically adjustable along the bolt upon rotation thereof to raise and lower said stud depending upon direotion'of rotation of said bolt.

9. In a loom operating with weft laying means to weave a fabric with weft loops formed along at least one of the selvages of the fabric, a four-bar linkage system including a pair of vertical levers, a rotatable link pivotally attached to the upper end of each lever, a

pivot for each of said levers, one of said levers being longer than the other lever, means operatively connected to one of said levers to effect reciprocation thereof, and a latch needle mounted on said link for reciprocation and rotation therewith .to engage the weft and form said weft loops.

10. The loom set forth in claim 9 wherein the longer of said levers is rearward of said other lever and said link is on said levers between the latter and said fabric.

11. The loom set forth in claim 9 wherein said means is operatively connected to said longer of said levers.

12. In a loom operating to insert weft through sheds to weave a-fabric with weft loops to form a knitted selvage, a first vertical lever movable back and forth during loom operation, a second vertical lever also movable back and forth with said first vertical lever, a link connecting both levers and movable back and forth therewith, a loop-forming hook needle fixed to said link and movable back and fonth therewith to hook said weft to form weft loops, a first pivot for said first lever, a vertically reciprocating third lever operatively connected to said first lever to elfect back and forth movement of said first and second levers, and a second pivot for said second lever above and forward of said first pivot to eifect vertical movement of said link during back and forth movement thereof.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,130,636 Olutsom Sept. 20, 1938 2,469,202 Murdock et al. May 3, 1949 2,918,093 Schiappa Dec. 22, 1959 2,980,146 ONeill Apr. 18, 1961 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,249,099 France Nov. 14, 1960 

1. IN A LOOM OPERATING TO FORM SHEDS FOR INSERTION OF WEFT THEREIN TO WEAVE A FABRIC WITH WEFT-LOOPS FORMED ALONG AT LEAST ONE OF THE SELVAGES OF THE FABRIC HAVING A SUPPORT THEREFOR, MEANS EXTENDING ALONG THE WIDTH OF THE FABRIC TO ENGAGE THE LATTER AND MAINTAIN IT ON SAID SUPPORT, RECIPROCATING LOOP-FORMING MEANS FOR ENGAGEMENT WITH SAID WEFT AND ROTATABLE DURING RECIPROCATION, ROTATABLE RECIPROCATING MEANS HAVING SAID LOOP-FORMING MEANS ATTACHED THERETO ADJACENT SAID FABRIC AND SAID SUPPORT, A PAIR OF PIVOTED ROCKING MEANS MOUNTING SAID ROTATABLE RECIPROCATING MEANS, DRIVE MEANS OPERATIVELY CONNECTED TO ONE OF SAID ROCKING MEANS TO EFFECT RECIPROCATION OF SAID PAIR OF ROCKING MEANS, AND ADJUSTABLE MEANS OPERATIVELY CONNECTED TO THE OTHER OF SAID ROCKING 